


Magic Mellark

by Prisspanem



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-19
Updated: 2013-12-02
Packaged: 2017-12-24 00:26:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/932968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prisspanem/pseuds/Prisspanem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katniss gave up trying to believe in magic. But working as an assistant to magician Peeta Mellark, perhaps magic hasn’t quite given up on her…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I wrote a thing for fandom4lls, and now it's here for you lovelies! Come find me on Tumblr!
> 
> Thanks again to my beta eatsnightlockforbreakfast, who got feedback to me on this loooooong story in record speed. 
> 
> And lots of thanks to Ro Nordmann, for another amazing banner.
> 
> In the meantime, preview is below…

 

Magic, for most people, was just that. Magic. Mysterious, mystical, alluring; its air of mystery enchanted all those who witnessed any trick, no matter how big or small.

Everyone but Katniss.

It was naturally more difficult for her to fall under its spell, even as a child. Her experience of hunting gave her a sharper eye than most, as well as a quick hand of her own; so she was able to recognise the smallest movements, or the actions that were intended to misdirect the attention from one thing to another. No matter how many times her father tried to trick her, she always noticed the coin he placed in his hand before he reached behind her ear.

She chose to overlook the many times she saw Mike the Magnifico on her eighth birthday reach into his pocket for hidden cards, while other children sat doe eyed and open-mouthed at his ‘tricks’. She willed herself to turn on her suspension of disbelief, to try to fall into the illusion, however thinly veiled. When it soon became apparent that the magician her parents had hired was pretty below par in his skills, she instead let herself bathe in the knowledge that her parents had loved her enough to find the money to find entertainment, or even to throw her a party in the first place. She knew herself that money had been tight for them since the mines her father worked in were exhausted and shut down. For her, the love her family had for each other was her own kind of magic.

The day she stopped trying to believe in magic was the day her father died.

Brain tumour, the doctors had said. Her father was diagnosed too late; the doctors told him he had a few weeks at most. They lost him after three. Katniss was twelve at the time, left to help keep the family together while her mother spaced in and out in her grief.

Well, magic did not save him that day, and nor did it put food on their table. She did.

They say nobody ever truly grows up, truly turns their back on all that is magical and enchanting.

That day, Katniss did.

xXx

“Hey Annie, how’s things?”

“Good thanks. Wedding planning is a little stressful, but  Finn’s taken on a lot of it surprisingly.”

“Finn? Really? Wow, I would not have pegged him as an organisation man.”

“Well, he’s surprisingly organised for his job. Actually, speaking of which... are you still looking for a job?”

“Er... yeah, actually.” Katniss didn’t really like to talk about her lack of success finding a new job. Ever since she decided to move back to her old college town, Annie had helped her get a temporary job where she worked at an outdoors sports shop. Katniss had hoped that the job would transform into a permanent one; unfortunately her knowledge of archery was rather wasted in a sea town that preferred fishing pursuits to woodsy ones.

“Do you remember where Finn works?”

Katniss vaguely remembered he worked in the entertainment industry, but truth be told the night she met Finnick through her old college roommate, she was rather distracted, and not in a good way, by arrogance and his lack of dress after getting out of the sauna. It took a good half an hour of watching her friend with her fiancé to see why they made a good couple. It seemed appearances could be deceiving.

“I think so, yeah...”

“Well, they’ve had one of the assistants go on maternity leave, so they’re looking for a replacement. It’s permanent to the right kind of person. Finn thinks you’d be great at it. Now I know it might seem completely different to anything you’d normally – ”

“No no, it sounds great. I mean, if Finn can do it, surely I’d be OK, right? Do I need to send a CV?”

“Er...no. I’ll just let Finn know you’re interested. Are you sure you – ”

“Yeah. I mean, I have good organisation skills. I’m up for a new challenge.”

“OK...er, great.” Katniss wasn’t sure why her friend sounded puzzled, she did say that Finnick thought she would be good at the job. Surely Annie didn’t doubt her ability, did she? It was a PA job after all, how hard could that be? “They’ve asked you to pop in at noon tomorrow if you’re interested. And you’ll have to come round soon, we haven’t seen you since your first night in town. That’s too long in my books.”

“I promise, as soon as I get a job, I can start thinking about socialising again. I swear it.”

“ OK. Well, let me know how the interview goes.”

“Will do. Thanks Annie. I owe you one.”

xXx

The next day she found herself alone, sitting in a grey plastic chair in a whitewashed room with a scratchy and slightly grimy looking dove grey carpet in the back of District 4’s seafront theatre. It was an old building, built before the 1940’s, at the time of swing and jazz, but it was still the popular destination for entertainment for those that lived in the town, especially amongst women. The moment she pulled up at the address, she remembered Finn having mentioned he worked for one of the entertainers as an assistant. Katniss had never set foot in the building until that morning; she never saw the point in wasting money on frivolous entertainment, even if she could afford to.

An opening of a door to the left of her interrupted Katniss’s scowling at the posters of past performers on the walls around her. The woman that entered the room almost had her choking with laughter. Her candyfloss pink hair was piled high on her head; the red of her waxy lipstick clashed horribly with her thick peacock blue eyeshadow.

From the black and white pictures of past performers on the walls, Katniss came to the conclusion she was looking at a drag act.

She certainly did not expect the trill voice that addressed her, and even to offer her hand to her in a handshake. A flash of cleavage from her too low cut top as she bent down to shake her hand confirmed (or rather shocked her into realising) she was indeed a woman.

“Well, Ms Everdeen...welcome, welcome to our little theatre. Mr Odair spoke very highly of you, and I have to say, what a pretty thing you are!”

Katniss wasn’t sure how to respond to this woman. Was she really...was this _actually_ her interview?!

After a few moments of silent stare, the woman seemed to have a sudden thought. “Oh, I am so terribly sorry, where _are_ my manners? My name is Effie Trinket, I’m in charge of recruiting talent for the theatre. Nobody gets a job here without my say so.”

“Ah...nice to meet you Ms. Trinket. I’ve brought my CV if you’d like to have a look.”

“Oh, why...thank you?” She seems to raise an eyebrow at the piece of paper held out to her, before tentatively taking it with her fuchsia pink claws. “And call me Effie, please.” Katniss watches as the strange woman totters over to a seat across from her. It’s only when she notices the six inch skyscraper heels that she realised why the woman had been walking strangely.

“So...tell me, do you have any experience of this type of work?”

“Erm...well, not exactly. But I’m a quick learner, and very organised. Oh, and it wasn’t an assistant role, but I did work in Caesar’s Palace when I was 18, just  before going to college. It’s on the CV.” She knew that job was over seven years ago now, and only involved cleaning rooms, but it was still some kind of experience, surely? Luckily, the look Effie gave her seemed to be showing glowing approval.

“Oh! Wonderful! And you have no problems with how you’ll be expected to dress?”

“Erm...no, if there’s a uniform or dress code, I’m happy to follow.” She desperately hoped Effie’s bright teal leopard print outfit was a reflection of the dress code for the job.

“OK, excellent! Well, I’ll go fetch something for you to try on then.” And with that, Katniss stared in confused shock as she teetered out of the room.

xXx

Pink. She was staring at pink. And in the mirror, it was staring back at her.

It was... _hideous_.

Bright candy pink the shade of Effie’s wig.

The more she stared, the worse it became.

No. She wasn’t going to do it.

It looked like a flamingo had died in a Christmas tree.

No way.

So many crystals. So low cut. Just so...everything.

There was no way she was letting anyone see her in it.

Quickly getting her phone out before Effie came back, Katniss dialled Annie’s number, willing her friend to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Annie! What the _hell_ kind of a job is this?” Katniss knew she was sounding on the verge of hysteria, but she didn’t care.

“Wait, what? Katniss, I thought you knew –”

“Annie, some woman I can only describe as looking like she comes from kabuki theatre has got me in the most _ridiculous_ pink leotard – ”

“Kat, slow down...”

“ – it’s got feathers all over it Annie. Fucking _Feathers!”_

“I thought you knew Kat. I’m sorry.”

“Knew _what?_ That these people are _insane?!_ Why on earth would I be given something to wear for a PA job? What kind of a freak house is this?”

Annie remained silent for a few moments. Katniss thought she could hear stifled laughter on the other end of the line. “This isn’t funny Annie. What is going on here? Just what kind of people is Finn working for?”

It was clear Annie was struggling to breathe as she tried to speak. “I’m...so sorry Kat... I thought... thought you knew what Finn did...” She could only frown as she listened to her friends giggles, before growing impatient.

“What? What does he do?!”

“He’s...he...oh Kat, he’s not a _personal assistant..._ he’s a performer. He’s a _magician’s_ assistant.”

xXx

Katniss had come very close to storming out on the day she had her interview, job be damned. But it was Annie’s words, still on the phone trying to calm her down and reason with her, that had her halting as she had reached the fire exit doors at the end of the corridor. “Finn gets paid double the amount you got at that temp job you know...” That had caught her attention. That kind of money could have her sending Prim extra financial aid at medical school, and _still_ having a comfortable amount to spare. And to get it, all she needed to do was embarrass herself parading around gesturing at a few measly magic tricks for a few hours? Piece of cake.

Only this cake...wasn’t quite the piece she was expecting. Finnick had tried to have her placed with the new magician on their books, but their manager Haymitch (a rough around the edges man in his fourties with a constant lingering smell of liquor surrounding him) felt a newbie with another newbie would only lead to chaos. So he placed her with one of the more experienced magicians, and gave her two days to get to grips with the act before her first trial.

Two nights later, she found herself on a stage with what she felt was the most arrogant man on the planet. Tall, athletic build, and leering at her every second like he was trying to make _her_ disappear. Katniss had been told that relationships of any kind with your stage partner were strictly forbidden. It was seen to be distracting and therefore dangerous. That’s not to say it didn’t happen, but in such cases, Haymitch divided the pair on stage.

Well, there was no bloody chance of that with Cato. His hostility towards her made her ovaries shrivel from distain. He obviously resented her for having his very perky blonde assistant, Glimmer, taken from his act. As she had not stopped hearing, they had chemistry, whereas she seemed to be like a dead fish according to him. Her discomfort in that ridiculously tight flamingo pink leotard he _insisted_ she wore hardly helped her presence on the stage. She felt constricted, artificial, uncomfortable, and had been scowling the whole way through.

Cato the Conjuror as he was known on stage. More like Cato the cun – ”

“Katniss!” The hiss of her name broke through her thoughts. “Get in the box” he whispered through gritted teeth, trying not to let his audience see his agitation by smiling a sickening grin. “And for god sake, smile. You’re killing me here!”

No, Cato wasn’t impressed with her. So far, she had nearly screwed up two of his tricks, being too slow to reappear in time from behind a wall of smoke, and now she had dropped a set of swords all over the stage for his box trick. But she just knew that even if he had spent the time teaching her properly, his tricks would still suck, and so would he.

At least she could say that her small frame gave her the ability to fit lithely into the box. She just needed to remember where it was she needed to place her arms and legs so she could avoid the swor –

“DAMMITFUCKCATO! That’s it, get me out of this bloody box!”

xXx

To say she hadn’t given a good first impression was an understatement. Whilst having her arm patched up (luckily it was just a flesh wound) Haymitch had sent Glimmer back to finish the act with Cato, before lecturing her on her stage presence. She held her tongue regarding the many shortcomings of Cato, instead simply agreeing with Effie that there was no chemistry between the two of them. As long as blame wasn’t being pointed at her, she was happy to move on.

No, definitely no chemistry between them. Let the blonde bitch Glimmer have him.

She was placed with their other in house experienced male magician, Thresh. Katniss immediately preferred him to Cato, mostly because he spoke little, and had her wear a slightly less ridiculous outfit of a plaid shirt, cowboy hat, and matching boots. The aesthetics of his act were based on the town he grew up in in Texas. The tricks were far simpler than Cato’s, and less dangerous, so she did not need as much time understanding her job on the stage. She even loved the fact that she could put her tree climbing skills to good use in a trick that involved shimmying up a pole.

But she could not help to wonder what his appeal was. Effie had told her he attracted a packed crowd for every performance, usually most of them being women. While Thresh was definitely a good looking hulk of a man, with mocha skin and well built generally, she did not believe that was enough to justify his popularity, especially with his simple tricks. She could only assume that with his silence, came some kind of appeal through mystery.

But if she was expecting her performance with Thresh to be better than with Cato, she was disappointed. Chemistry, it seemed, was not necessarily about attraction. A large part of it came from how you balanced each other on stage.  And while Katniss was following Thresh’s tricks with ease, and scowling far less, something was off.

It dawned on her part way through their second to last trick. She took in the eerie silence surrounding her, and realised what it was. It was not a silence that fell from awe and anticipation, it had hovered the whole time. It was flat. The whole performance was flat. Katniss had liked Thresh for his quiet nature, but on stage her pairing with the silent performer was positively stupid. Their equally quiet nature only emphasised the awkwardness behind them both, and Thresh no longer looked mysterious, but boring. She was making this hunk of a man look _boring._ Katniss groaned internally when she realised she still had ten minutes left of this awkward act to get through.

It was obvious the moment she managed to finally exit the stage, that Haymitch had come to the same conclusions she did.

“Well that was...something. Didn’t think any more life could be sucked out of some of these old hags that come here, but somehow, you did it. Congratulations!” He mocked a toast with the tumbler in his hands, taking a swig. “Listen sweetheart, we’ve only got one more performer to try and pair you with. You’re gonna have to convince us you can work with him.”

Translation...this was her last chance.

“Well, there’s also the option of Clove” Effie pointed out hesitantly.

“Are you kiddin’? Princess hostility here on stage with the Queen of hostility? Yeah, that would be a good move.” He gestured with his thumb at Finnick standing in the doorway behind him. “You know I pair up pretty boy over there with her to thaw out her act a bit. She’d alienate the large demographic of females that come here with that knife throwing act of hers otherwise. His looks and charms are the only reason that her act works at all.” He looked back at Katniss then. “Nah, sorry sweetheart, but you’re gonna have to try and make it work with newbie Peeta or there’s nothing I can offer you.”

Peeta...where had she heard that name before?

“Who’s trying to work with me Haymitch?” The owner of the unknown yet very familiar voice stepped into the room, and as her eyes made contact with a pair of striking blue eyes, she instantly knew where she had heard it.

_xXx_

_If Katniss didn’t hate owing people, she would never have agreed to accompany Annie to the party down the road from their dorm rooms. Or to drive for that matter. But as it was, she did, and she knew her friend was excited to introduce her to the ‘hot’ new guy she met on campus and had started dating._

_Flynn, was it? Or Finley..._

_“Finnick! Come meet my roomie Katniss.”_

_Ah. Finnick. That was the one. A tall bronze haired Adonis had pulled himself from the pool to come greet them. Any attraction to his looks had soon dissipated as soon as she took him how he walked towards her. There was an air of righteousness about him. He was hot, but god dammit he sure knew it._

_It also did not help that his sea green speedos left little to the imagination. As Annie walked over to another group of people she knew who had called her over, she tried to hold a conversation with him about what he did, where he worked (something to do with entertainment), but all she could focus on was the stubborn blush she could feel spreading from her cheeks and down her neck, and her desperate attempts to not look down, not look down, not look down..._

_And then the dickwad had had the_ nerve _to tease her about her discomfort. To flirt with her. Asking if he made her uncomfortable, if she found him ‘distracting’._

_He was lucky her plastic cup of coke was empty, or she would have thrown it in his face._

_As it was, she excused herself, and stomped into the kitchen for a refill._

_That was where she had bumped into a stocky framed blur of white from the t shirt of the man that had grabbed her arms to stop her fall back._

_“Sorry” she mumbled._

_It was only when she had righted herself that she glanced at his face. He was shorter than Finn, with a less obvious ruggedness. But he had a boy next door charm about him, and his electric blue eyes were breathtaking. Were they contacts or something? Surely eyes can’t naturally be that blue. He had a mop of straw coloured curls that fell messily on his forehead, almost asking to be stroked and tugged. Being so close to him, she picked up on the scent of cinnamon and sugar surrounding him._

_Her body hadn’t missed how muscular he was either._

_“Er, are you OK?”_

_“Yup...I’m fine, sorry. Just need a refill. And trying to get away from that asshat over there.” The boy’s gaze had followed hers and she heard a smooth laugh roll from his lips._

_“Yeah, I would have guessed you meant Finn. First time meeting him I take it?” She nodded in response as she grabbed the nearest soft drink from the counter to refill her cup. “Yeah, he makes that impression on a lot of people on first meeting. He’s actually a great guy when you get to know him.”_

_“I’ll have to take your word on that. I certainly hope my friend Annie isn’t wasting her time.”_

_“Oh, you’re Annie’s friend? She’s awesome.”_

_“Yeah. She is.” She stared at the man in front of her for a few moments, wondering why he seemed to be shifting from foot to foot. Does he need the toilet or something?_

_“So..er, what brings you to this party?”_

_“My friend. You know...Annie. remember?”_

_“Oh, of course. Right.” She watched his throat as he quickly swallowed a large gulp of his beer. Why was he hovering with her? She was generally a miserable bitch at parties. Not exactly a hotbed of conversation. And if anything, he looked nervous, like he was trying to think of a way to get away from her. Perhaps she needed to help this polite blond._

_“If you need to get back out there, that’s fine. I was gonna stay here for a while anyway.”_

_“Nah, that’s cool. Pools aren’t really my think neither. Never learnt to swim. I was gonna lurk in the shadows anyway. Mind if I keep you company?” She gave him a simple shrug of her shoulders. She hated to admit it, but he was cute in his nervous way. And the way they fell into easy conversation made her realise he was quite easy to talk to, despite her own terrible skills at conversation. She learnt he lived locally, and spend his time between working at his father’s bakery and a weekend job where his friend Finn worked. She told him how the moment she turned twenty two in a few months and graduated, she was going to go back home and work to support her sister Prim, who was currently applying to medical schools._

_She liked the way he took it upon him to silently fill up her drink every time it got low. She liked even more how his t shirt clung to his broad shoulders and muscular arms._

_“Listen, er, Katniss, I was just wondering...I mean – if you’re not busy, maybe we co – ”_

_The squeal of a blonde with long wavy hair and a low cut pink top cut through whatever the man in front of her was about to say. As if one perky cheerleader lookalike wasn’t enough, she was soon followed by two other lookalikes behind her._

_“Peeta! Finn told us you do card tricks. Will you show us one, puh-leeaze!”_

_The way they pouted and batted their eyelashes at him had her wanting to turn on her heels before she lost her lunch. Her conversation with him had made her realise all the more that he was attractive. Very attractive. But she would never fawn all over a guy like these idiots were doing. And card tricks? God. Not this again. Somehow it was a craze all around Capitol Campus, everywhere she looked someone was fumbling with a pack of cards or coins, in an attempt to impress. And this Peeta was drawn into that? She wanted to get away from them in her frustration, but dammit, this was her hiding place. Let them be the ones to leave._

_It was sickening to watch..._

xXx

Despite the three years since she last set eyes on him, he hadn’t changed all that much. His unruly mop of golden curls were now combed neatly back off his forehead, a style that seemed to emphasise his masculine jawline in an appealing way. He still wore a shirt with sleeves folded up to his elbows, but the all over black of his costume only made his skin seem more sunkissed in the faded glow of the ten watt bulb hanging above them. His shoulders were as broad as she remembered, but it was the confident way he held himself in the room that was the most surprising difference for her.

“Peeta, this is Katniss. I’m putting her with you for Thursday night’s act, to see how you get on with each other. Try to go through what she needs to do so you don’t have a Cato incident OK?”

She watched as Peeta frowned at her for a few seconds before responding. “What happened with Thresh?”

“Tanked, that’s what. I’ve been to funerals that were livelier. ”

Peeta still seemed troubled. “So...there’s no one else then?” His response irked Katniss. What was his problem anyway? Even Cato hadn’t been so overtly rude to her.

“You know what? Don’t worry about it. Wouldn’t want to ruin high and mighty’s act here. Excuse me Haymitch, thank you for your time, and _fuck_ _you_ very much for this...” she raised her fingers to air quote “ _opportunity_.”

Storming down to the changing rooms to get out of the ridiculous cowgirl outfit, she could hear Haymitch’s deep voice mutter something, followed by Peeta calling after her.

It was only as she opened the dressing room door that she felt a strong grip encase her arm.

“Katniss, wait, hold on. I didn’t mean – ” She stared down at the hand touching her, the feel of his calloused fingers rubbing against her skin. In that moment, it only rubbed her up the wrong way even more.

“Oh didn’t you? Tell me, was that _enthusiasm_ I saw back there? Because I’m pretty sure the only person you didn’t try to palm me onto was the janitor. And actually, I’d probably be in better hands with him, let’s be honest.”

“No, that wasn’t why – wait, what does _that_ mean?”

“You’re the magician...work it out.” She tried to turn her back on him, but he whirled her around and trapped her against the wall.

“Hey, listen! You think meeting me for five minutes in someone’s kitchen means you can judge my act? You don’t know _anything_ about me!” So, he _did_ remember her then. His face was dangerously close to hers, his whole body practically pushed up against her. But there was a soft awareness about the way he made contact with her, that let her know his anger at her wasn’t physical. If she wasn’t so pissed off at this man, she would almost be turned on by his dominance at this point.

Wait, what was she saying?

Ignoring his hands placed on either side of her head, she focused on his face to respond. “If I don’t know you, that’s certainly not _my_ fault.” And there it was. She knew he understood what she was getting at immediately. The card trick from the party, a trick she _knew_ was used to obtain a girl’s number. The card covered in black ink numbers that he should have kept, she instead found herself holding in her hand as he walked away.

xXx

_He’d held out the cards to her spread in his hands, guiding her to take one from the deck. The other three ladies around him had all wanted to be the one to choose, but for a reason she did not know, he had looked directly at her, the only one around him not squealing and jumping and flicking their hair in his face. She simply stared at the pattern on the back of the cards for a few moments. Not a trick deck by the looks of things._

_Slowly, she took a card from somewhere near the edge. She tried not to smirk at the way the cards trembled slightly in his hands, and how he nearly dropped them all over the table when her finger brushed his. So far, she wasn’t sure what the deal with this guy was. Perhaps he was one of those narks who still lived with his parents, and spent all his time watching Star Wars and learning how to fight with a light sabre._

_He asked her to look at her card, and not show anyone, so she held it close to her chest and looked down._

_The Queen of Hearts. Typical._

_He’d handed her a pen then, and told her to write her number on the card (a piece of information he couldn’t have known before doing the trick, he had said.) But she ignored the evils being sent her way by the other girls, and scratched down her number on the card._

_It wasn’t like he would take it and call her anyway._

_After a blur of movement from his hands as he shuffled (she was slightly mesmerised with the way his fingers moved deftly; she did not want o admit to herself, but even she could not keep up with him as he shuffled the cards in various ways between his fingers) he once again spread the cards in front of her and asked her to place it back in the pack. She’d quickly leant across the table then to slide the card back with the others, and looking up just caught the movement of his eyes dart away from down her top. What she didn’t miss was the trembling of his hands as he picked them back up and shuffled again. Only this time, he seemed more flustered than before, and dropped a small section of the cards onto the table. They fanned out in all directions, some up and some down, and a small smirk tugged at her lips as he swore under his breath before scooping them up into his hands._

_Just as he’d laid a card in front of her facing down, Finnick had called to him telling him they were leaving, and if he wanted a ride he’d better get his ass in gear. So he  had told her to pick it up and check it when he had gone, and that she might find something different about it._

_It was only when she heard their car move off down the street that she uncovered the card from underneath her clasped hands. Sliding it over, it wasn’t (but also, more disappointingly, was) what she was expecting. She didn’t tell him, but this trick wasn’t new to her. From watching a few of the guys at her college bar perform the trick, she knew how it worked. She also knew the real purpose of it. Have the same card ready that you gave her, switch the cards, take her number, leave her with yours._

_Staring back at her should have been a Queen of Hearts, with a number she didn’t recognise. But she did recognise this number. Because she wrote it herself five minutes before..._

_xXx_

She hated to admit it to herself, but it stung. She tried to convince herself he was simply rubbish at card tricks, and had blundered. But really, deep down, she knew he left it on purpose. Why would he be interested in her after all?

His face turned a bright shade of pink not unlike Effie’s fingernails, and he slowly backed away from her, running a hand through his wavy locks. Looking uncomfortable for a few moments, he broke the silence. “This, ah...won’t exactly help improve your opinion of my talents, but...” he chuckled to himself, “I completely screwed up the trick. I didn’t even notice until I got back home.” His blue eyes met hers for a fleeting moment before looking back to the grey carpet at their feet.

Katniss was confused. “But, then...why didn’t you just get my number from Finnick?”

“Because I felt ridiculous! I mean, well...shit, I thought I must have given you the worst impression of me, and I just knew you’d blow me off if I rang. So I thought I’d wait until the next opportunity to meet you. I didn’t know that there wouldn’t be another opportunity before you moved back home.”

Something wasn’t right about his story. It didn’t make any sense to her. “You expect me to believe this? You’re a professional magician. How could you blunder a trick like that? And then just now, you made it perfectly clear you wanted nothing to do with me.”

He gave her a long, piercing stare. The next words he spoke she had to strain to hear. “God, you don’t realise the effect you have, do you?” She just looked at him quizzically and waited for him to continue. “You were really intimidating. I mean, you’re beautiful, and confident, and Finnick had told me all about you, and then I met you, and I just...well, all basic abilities to function went out of the window.” He took a step closer to her. “And I’m sorry if it seemed like I didn’t want you on stage with me. It’s just, there’s this policy here...”

“Do you mean...the no dating your partner one?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” He was making even less sense now. The  more she talked to him, the less she could picture his act on stage. He was tripping over his words, shifting awkwardly on his feet, and although she found his blush to be attractive, she couldn’t see how it would draw in a crowd of people for an hour’s act. It was as she always thought. People that watched magic were just stupid.

“Look, Finn told me you were here, and I thought you’d fit in well enough with one of the other acts and I could...er, try another shot at, you know, getting you number. But if you’re my assistant, well I can’t exactly do that.”

Was he serious? Was he seriously interested in her? Katniss thought he might not have the suave charms for the job, but he was nevertheless very attractive, and she was sure many of the women paying to see him would be doing so for the magic of his muscles more than his act.

“Anyway, I know you need this job for Prim, or you wouldn’t have stuck around after Cato, so we can be completely professional. I know that I’m kind of your only option here now, but if you’ll still have me, I’d love for you to be my assistant.” He held out his hand to her, and gave a shy smile that had something in her stomach flip. After looking down at his hand in contemplation, she shook it firmly, trying to ignore the warmth that flew up her arm. Looking back into his azure eyes, she repeated his statement with a small nod.

“Completely professional.”

xXx

She was doomed. There was no way she could keep this professional. For the past few days she had tried to forget the attraction she felt towards his clumsy warm-hearted nature, and focused on trying to learn what she could about his tricks so she could be a great assistant and keep the job.

She knew she was in trouble the first time she saw his act.

He had told her she should watch his matinee performance the next day, to see what he was about, and watch his current assistant Delly (who was four months pregnant) and what she did on stage.

Dammit, she hadn’t expected him to be so...well, hot.

His presence the moment he stepped onstage was unrecognisable. He had a stage persona that could spontaneously combust any woman’s underwear, and at the same time he held himself with a calm confidence; it demanded the attention of anyone in the same room.

She couldn’t even put her finger on what it was at first that caused her thighs to clench repeatedly, and those of practically every woman around her. It wasn’t how he dressed exactly; his clothes fit him well and certainly helped accentuate his well toned body, but they were usually nothing more complicated than a simple black shirt and dress trousers. He was certainly as attractive as the first time she saw him backstage, but nothing in his appearance had changed since then.

No, it was something else. It was his voice. His voice was pure sex. This man, who practically choked when speaking to her, could spin real gold with his words when on that stage. She certainly wouldn’t doubt it if she saw such a thing happen in his act.

That night, concealed beneath her bedcovers, she touched herself furiously, his words and his lips and his tongue flooding her mind, and she came harder than she had in years.

The next morning Peeta had taken her to a local cafe, and run though every trick in his repertoire. He wanted to perform tricks with her that she felt comfortable doing, he had said, so that he didn’t make her something she was not. Instead, together they would pick which ones to perform in his act. He had learnt that she was skilled in archery, and made a point to create a trick as soon as possible where she could use the skill. It also became clear to him that there was very little that Katniss was afraid of, at least in terms of physical danger, which was another great bonus in his eyes. To her, she was just grateful that he told her she could wear what she liked. Her being able to wear her brown leather lace up boots over her black skinny jeans and plain black blouse was the gesture she needed to feel more herself on the stage. She could almost ignore the audience and pretend it was just the two of them.

Their first night performing together, he had kept their tricks fairly simple, so he could focus on the quality of her delivery rather than the trick itself. He had selected three tricks to show her, and she would be equally involved in each one, rather than standing on the sidelines and gesturing enthusiastically.

Peeta’s first trick of the night, the cup and ball, differed from other versions in the way he misdirected his audience. Many would make the trick their own by changing the types of cups used, or the balls, changing their aesthetics in some way. But most magicians created misdirection, or a focus where they wanted you to focus, through a distracting set of movements.

Peeta used his words. His sexy, attracted your attention like bees to honey kind of distraction.

That’s not to say he wasn’t quick with his hands also. When they practised the trick together, he used see through cups so she could keep track of where the balls were disappearing and reappearing. Even then, his hands were too fast for her to see where he was collecting balls from, and when. On their first performance, he began to get so distracted by his hands, and with dark thoughts of what kind of magic he could perform on her using those hands, that she missed two of her queues on where to place the ball under the cup while he was distracting the audience away from her.

But he used his easy carefree words to turn the empty cup into something humorous. The near ruined trick transformed in his hands, distracting the audience from her blunder.

She wanted him more than ever.

But he had been perfectly clear. He wanted this professional. She knew he would not risk her job; he would hate himself for it. And now that they were working well together, even Haymitch was impressed. While she was still fairly quiet on the stage, her silent strength only fuelled the chemistry many were picking up on the stage between the pair. Which only made Haymitch reinforce the importance of his golden rule. In his eyes, if she were to sleep with Peeta, the magic between them would dissolve.

And she’d most likely lose her job.

 xXx

The sexual tension reached a head between them a lot sooner than she thought it would. Peeta’s focused nature, and her own determination to succeed in the job, made her think she could continue to resist his attraction on stage, and relieve the tension by herself at night.

But their success on stage grew, and Haymitch played to it. He had them performing tricks that were more suggestive, more intimate. She had so many dreams of him at night, that she could hardly tell what was real and what wasn’t when he would shackle her onto a table, or hold onto her as they fell down a trap door. When Peeta set her on fire for a disappearing trick, the ever present heat between her legs was so hot so had to ask if the fake flames had somehow screwed up. She knew they hadn’t. It was her burning for him, not his trick.

While Peeta had attempted to avoid her for the most part outside of working hours, he could not always avoid spending time with her of the stage. This particular Wednesday was a hot one for August, and Katniss found herself for once waking in a sweat that was caused by the heat rather than her own lurid thoughts.

Wednesdays meant a matinee performance followed by the rest of the day off for her and Peeta. Which meant she would spend time with Annie, or catch up on chores. Not that day. It was Annie’s birthday. Which naturally, on such a hot day, meant a pool party round their house.

Aside from Finn and Peeta, no one else from work knew Annie very well, so she would not feel the need to socialise with the likes of Cato or Glimmer at least. And by the time she had changed into her costume for their matinee performance, she was actually looking forward to the chance to cool off in the pool. She hadn’t been swimming in so long.

And she had promised Peeta she would teach him how to swim.

Katniss had almost forgotten the new trick they were trying out that afternoon. It was why she needed a different outfit to her boots and jeans. Haymitch had dressed them both up in an all over skin tight black PVC suit especially for the trick, which involved Katniss being tied to a wall and Peeta ‘whipping her’, thereby exploding water balloons around her. He did not actually need skill using the whip, he simply made sure to practise so that he did not hit her, and her own hidden button activating the pins that would explode each balloon in order did the rest.

Katniss felt the whole thing was a little on the nose. But sex did seem to sell, as Effie and Finn kept on telling them.

The heat and the suits they wore had them both hot and bothered, and his hands too clammy to work the rope restraints effectively. He spent longer than in their rehearsals stretching across her upper body to try to fasten the knots the way Finn (who was a natural with knots) had shown him, and his close proximity to her, the way their costumes rubbed against each other, was making her damp between the legs. She noticed Peeta gulp as he realised how close they were, saw him stare as a bead of sweat dripped down from her neck to between the valley of her cleavage before disappearing. He licked his lips, and they looked at each other. But whatever thought he held, he shook his head to clear it, and quickly stepped away and gathered the whip.

Only he couldn’t have cleared his head enough. The first flick of the whip slightly grazed her thigh, and she yelped in surprise, looking up open mouthed as she did. Heat was rising to her face, and rushing downwards when she saw the look on his. His moment of concern disappeared from his expression at the same time she realised it wasn’t pain she felt.

There was pain, yes. But she was also incredibly turned on.

She watched as his fist clenched around the whip, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes...were they darker than usual? She couldn’t be sure in the dim lighting of the theatre, and she couldn’t be sure that he was as thrilled as she was...until his second strike. He slowly, carefully raised the whip as he seemed to ponder something, before sharply bringing his arm in a downwards stroke that caught her on the hip.

This time, Katniss held his eye contact as she gasped loudly.

She still popped the balloons. But the act had transformed from the innocent hint of suggestion, to something infinitely too adult for a weekday matinee. At the end of the trick, she was grateful she only had to lightly tug on the ropes to release her, for if Peeta needed to get close to her again, she would definitely jump him, audience be damned.

They arrived at Annie’s party separately, too afraid to be alone together, and too embarrassed to acknowledge what had just happened on the stage. One JD and coke made Katniss feel bold. She had had enough of avoiding the issue. She didn’t think they could safely continue the way they were without relieving the tension one way or another.

And, she missed him. She missed going for coffee, having carefree chats with him. He had been avoiding her so much, she wanted to get him talking to her again, right then, job be damned.

Luckily, the heat had helped her cause as she noticed Peeta had already found his way into the pool. He hovered in the shallow end, right next to the steps, his knuckles almost white as he clung on to one of the rungs tightly. She jumped into the deep end and swam her way over to him. The pool was empty except for the two of them; everyone else had headed inside for one of Finn’s drinking games, so she was able to sneak up to him underwater and resurface in front of him. He almost fell backwards in surprise.

“Jeez Kat! Did you have to do that?”

“Ready for your lesson?” She swiped her wet hair away from her face, and noticed his gaze had fallen on the swell of her breasts at the top of her dark green bikini top.

“Er, I was thinking we should just skip the lesson...I mean, er – I don’t really need to know how to swim, I’ve lasted this long right? I’ll get Finn to show me sometime.” He looked everywhere but at her, face flushed, and seemed troubled.

“What’s going on Peet? Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No – no. You haven’t done anything.”

“Then...why are you being so strange?” He ran his hand through his gorgeous gold spun hair again, before blowing air through his lips in a long sigh.

“I’ve been thinking...maybe we should see if you can be put with Thresh again...now you’re confidence has improved...”

“What the _hell_ Peeta? Why the fuck would I do that? What, do you not want me as your assistant now?”

“God, no! It’s not that – ”

“Then what is it? I thought we worked well together. What did I do? If I’ve done something to upset you, or something wrong, then I deserve to bloody well – ”

“I’m too attracted to you OK?!” He cut her off with such a passionate look, she could do nothing but stare. “I’m...attracted to you, and... it’s been harder and harder to control, and I think it could get dangerous. I made a mistake today with the whipping, and hurt you. What if it was knives, or fire? I couldn’t live with myself. And I don’t want you to lose your job, so I think it’s best – ”

“Peeta.” She had to cut him off then. She’d had it with beating around the bush, or the lack of beating around the bush she should say. “I...liked the whip. A lot.” His nostrils flared as he took a sharp intake of breath, which gave her a chance to continue. “And I’m attracted to you too.”

Peeta seemed to struggle internally with something for a few moments, his eyes darting from her full lips and back to her.

“Oh, fuck it.” He grabbed the back of her neck with one of his hands, the other snaking around her waist to the back of her to draw her closer to him. Their lips collided before she had a chance to shut her eyes. Her own hands ran up his chest, around his neck, and fisted his hair, causing him to press himself harder against her. She could feel his rising manhood pressing into her below the water as her tongue flicked out and along his lips. A grunt from within his throat, and a parting of his lips was all the response she needed.

When their tongues first collided, they both moaned long and low. Hands were wild and everywhere, skin on fire despite being in the water. They broke apart momentarily while Peeta began nibbling down her neck, causing her to release an embarrassingly primal noise. They became very aware of where they were.

One quick glance around gave them both an idea. He pulled himself quickly out of the pool, offering his hand to help her out. They ran quietly into a tool shed hidden under an apple tree in the far corner of the garden. Twilight had begun to settle on the party, and the music wafting from the windows at the other end of the house let them know they would most likely be alone out there for a while.

Once he shut the door behind them, they were both able to take a few moments to just stare at their dripping wet forms. She noticed the prominent bulge that his wet shorts clung to, the drips of sweat mingling with the water from the pool as it ran down his muscular chest and abs. She could feel his gaze raking over her too.

Bodies collided then, hands sought out every inch of flesh. She had pulled his shorts down at the same time as he undid the drawstring to her bikini at the back. She let it fall to the floor, but looked away as a surge of self consciousness hit her. She knew she was about right in size for her frame, but her breasts were a lot smaller than most girls she knew, and probably weren’t what he was –

“ _Fuck me_...” the exhale of profanity from his mouth was shocking to her, but gave her the confidence to look back at him. His gaze would not leave her chest, and the hunger in his eyes empowered her in a way she had never felt before. “Katniss...God, you don’t know how much I’ve fantasised about this.”

“Me too.” Impatient for his touch, she grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast, and whatever spell he was under seemed to break. His lips sought hers again, and as he nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth, he pinched her nipple lightly with thumb and forefinger.

She didn’t know which sensation she was moaning at more.

His lips began to kiss down her neck again in a frenzy of licking and sucking, before he settled at her other nipple, teasing with his tongue and teeth. Katniss was soon writing below him, holding his head to her left breast. His other hand found its way to the ties on her bikini bottoms, and he gave each side a gentle tug until it fell away.

They were both naked now, her hips bucked against his desperately to relieve the tension she felt there. His hand snaked down to find her centre while his tongue still thrust within her mouth. As she felt one of his fingers enter her, her head fell back and her mouth broke away from his to release a guttural moan. His thumb found that small pearl of pleasure near the apex of her thighs, and he began to rub it furiously in time with his fingers. Needing to feel him, she had grasped his cock in her hands, eliciting a mix between her name and a curse as she began moving her hand up and down. The water from the pool was still present, helping her create a delicious friction. He watched their hands moving at the same rhythm, but all too soon he was stilling her hand and pulling it away from him. He continued to suck at her breasts as she gripped his shoulders.

She could feel the coil in her that let her know she was getting close, but she stopped his hand too, and he looked up at her in confusion.

“Peeta...I want you, now.” He nodded at her, and removed his fingers from her. She soon realised a potential problem to sneaking off to the tool shed. “Er, Peeta,...I don’t have any – ”

He placed his index finger on her lips, shushing her. With his other hand, he reached up and behind her ear, pulling out a square foil packet. “Yeah you do.” The gesture made her smile.

Katniss had no idea how he had managed it, as far as she could tell his swimming shorts were halfway across the shed and had no pockets. But she was too turned on to care.

Quickly  but carefully, she tore open the packed and slid the condom on over him. Peeta let out a small hiss as her hand rolled it down to the base of his shaft. She lay back on the worktable, pushing stray tools and bits of wood to the side as he grasped her calves in his hands and stood between her, positioning himself at her entrance.

“Quickly Peeta, now!”

With a swift thrust he was inside her. Both let out a loud shout of pleasure, and as their lips rejoined he grabbed the edge of the table and began thrusting hard, making up for the pent up tension they had fought for so long.

The sounds they were making were turning her on, and she could feel their first time was not going to last long. She was already climbing towards her finish when he warned her. “Katniss...I’m close...”

She could only nod furiously to show she was too. He moved his fingers down to where they were joined, and began to rub her nub as furiously as he was moving in and out of her. She could feel herself tensing and on the brink of her orgasm, and dug her nails into his back even further. With a loud cry of his name, she tensed around him, her toes curling as she froze in the most intense orgasm she had ever had. His erratic movements told her everything she needed to know as she slowly came down from her high.

“Katniss...I’m coming...oh, _fuck...”_ she felt him pulse inside her, before he finally collapsed on top of her.

They lay there like that for a few minutes, letting their breathing return to normal. When he had the strength, he lifted his lips and placed a gentle kiss on hers.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“So, what happens now?” The way Peeta could move from a confident sex god to a shy blundering boy in front of her made her heart melt.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll have any danger of ruining a trick with our tension now. As long as we keep this up of course.”

“I think it’s safe to say I like this plan. What about Haymitch?”

“Well I’m not interested in a threesome, if that’s what you mean.”

“You know what I mean Katniss. What if he finds out? I don’t want to be responsible for you losing your job.”

“Well then we keep it from him. We keep it from everyone. They don’t need to know we’re having sex. And I doubt he’ll be able to tell Peeta. Frankly, our tricks can only improve now we aren’t distracted by all the pheromones.”

“Er, yeah, I guess you’re right...”

xXx

It had been a couple of weeks since their first sexual encounter before Katniss began to think her feelings for Peeta ran deeper than just a sexual attraction. Luckily, their plan to keep their relations a secret had not been picked up on by Haymitch, who still felt their chemistry on stage was scorching to watch. Katniss had not felt so satisfied in such a long time, so she tried to write off any other feeling of contentment down to the frequent orgasms she was receiving from Magnificent Mellark.

Until the day of the volunteer.

The trick was simple enough. Gather a volunteer from the crowd, have them come up to the stage, and all that was needed of them was to hold an empty goldfish bowl while Peeta transformed water from a larger fish tank next to her into berries as he poured it into the bowl from his hands. Katniss had purposefully selected a meek looking redhead from the crowd. Her pale skin and simple expression seemed innocent enough, so it was a huge shock to Katniss to see the copper headed woman turn on her charms the moment she stood in Peeta’s presence. Her hands were all over him, feeling his biceps, spewing compliments, all the while her eyelashes fluttered so much Katniss could feel the breeze.

This one was cunning like a fox.

What got to her, what _really_ pushed her though, was that Peeta flirted back. He didn’t remove the woman’s hands, or ignore her compliments. He gave the bitch _her_ smile, the one she draws from him whenever she walks in a room, the same smile she had seen upon waking next to him so many times before.

She spent the rest of the act plotting her revenge on him, keeping her face as neutral as possible to keep up the act for the crowd. It took her a while to decide on a plan, but she could not help the small smirk that graced her face when she did. She knew exactly how she was going to push his buttons on this.

At the end of the night, most had already left the theatre. Only Haymitch and Effie had remained till the end. Katniss waited until he began to pick up the keys to lock the building to put her plan in actually.

“Actually Haymitch, if it’s OK with you, do you mind if Peeta and I lock up tonight? He’s got a spare set of keys anyway, and I’d like to go through that new trick with him one last time before our matinee tomorrow.

Haymitch looked at her suspiciously for a few moments before finally answering with a small smirk. “I bet you do. Alright fine, just remember to cut the power to the stage when you’re done.”

Peeta had remained silent through their exchange, only quirking his eyebrow at her in the sexy way she had to resist as she brushed past him back to the stage. It was only when she approached the contraption she needed to use, that he spoke to her. “So, practise huh?”

“Uh-huh. I want to be 100% confident I can work these clasps properly. Can we go through it once more please?” She refused to meet his gaze, she knew he could tell when she was lying, and she needed him in the handcuffs against the board especially made for their arrow trick.

He silently and slowly approached her, giving her that same shy smile she got to witness when they were alone. Dammit, if he kept that up, she wouldn’t be able to do this.

And then she remembered the smile he gave the redhead, and her anger was back with her.

He raised his hands above his head and allowed her to handcuff him so his arms remained elevated. The key to the trick was fairly straightforward once you knew it. Peeta had designed the trick especially for her. Katniss fired arrows around him, pinning him in place to the blood red board behind him. Her final arrow was to be a flaming one, and upon impact with the board between Peeta’s legs, an explosion of smoke would give him all the time he needed to slip away from his already unfastened handcuffs.

Here, she only needed to switch the restraints for one of the real pairs to stop him from getting free.

“So, a quick run-through of the ending, or do you want to go through the whole thing?”

“Oh, I want to get to the big finish.” She had her back to him, but she could feel his eyes on her as she picked up her bow and arrow. They were steel in colour, made to look modern and fresh, just like their act.

As she turned to him, she passed the arrow suggestively through her fingers. “You know Peeta, that volunteer worked _well_ tonight didn’t she?” He looked at her in confusion as she began to notch the arrow in place.

“Er, yeah, it went pretty – er, Katniss, you seem a bit...”

Apprehension had begun to creep in his voice. Good. She gave him a sickeningly sweet smile, and spoke with a voice of honeyed sweetness.

“Seem a bit what Peeta? Touchy? Flirty? _Redheaded?_ ” Before his eyebrow had finished raising fully up on his head, she had drawn back the string of her bow and released an arrow dangerously close to the left side of his hip. She felt huge satisfaction witnessing the way she made him jump.

“Er, can you warn me before you fire one of those please? And that’s not the order we do it in remember.”

He was frowning at her. The man had the gall to make her feel at fault.

“Not scared are you, Mellark?”

Something seemed to register in Peeta’s mind as she called him by his stage name. “Something’s different about you...you’re not acting yourself. What’s going on Kat?”

“What’s wrong Peeta? I thought you liked flirting with someone else?” Her second arrow was loaded quicker than the first, and landed a hairs breath from his right hip, thereby restricting any movement in his lower body. She looked at him just in time to see him gulp, even if his face remained impassive.

“Wait...are you actually firing at me _angry?_ What the hell Katniss! Is this about that volunteer?”

“This is about professionalism! Maintaining the act!”

“Professionalism? What are you – oh my God, are you _jealous?”_

Peeta’s calmness pissed her off more and more. And she wanted to wipe the smirk of his face. When she didn’t look at him, it seemed to confirm his question.

“You are jealous, aren’t you? Jealous I might have been interested. Well, honestly Kat, you don’t – ”

Katniss had stormed up to be mere inches away from him at this point. “As if I would be jealous! You’re mine Mellark. Not hers. I can have you whenever I want.” Her hand began to move down his torso to find the button at the top of his pants. “And it’s my name you’ll be screaming.” She could hear his sharp intake of breath as she popped open the button, then slip the zip down over the bulge already forming in his pants. She swiftly pushed his trousers down to pool at his feet. She could see him pulling on his shackles, hear his fingers begin to fumble for the catch on the clasp. But he wouldn’t find it. Any moment she expected him to realise his true predicament, but the fun to her was letting him discover it on his own. Instead, she slowly lowered herself down onto her knees as the realisation lit up his eyes.

“Er, Katniss, what – ”

“Let’s head for the big finale shall we?” She slowly dragged his navy blue boxers down his muscular thighs to chase after his trousers, letting her fingernails make slightly rough pathways down his skin as she did. She noticed his cock pulsate slightly at the same time as the hiss he released. As her hands rested on his hip bone, he involuntarily thrust towards her face. She simply pushed his hips back down.

He had not let her do this for him yet; so far their sneaking around by day meant that at night their impatience to be together had meant they barely had enough time to remove their clothes most times. But tonight, she was going to take her time teasing him. Her right hand wrapped around the swollen base of him at the same time as she looked up to lock eyes with his once again.

“What do you want, Peeta?”

He swallowed. Hard. “I want...you.”

“Is that all?” His erratic breathing had her smirking up at him. She held his gaze as she kissed the tip lightly and swirled her tongue around the head of his penis, causing his eyes to screw shut and a grunt to escape his mouth.

“Oh, _fuck!”_  

His head fell back and hit the plasterboard behind him as she continued to pump him with her hand and mouth. She could see his hands clenching and unclenching in the silver handcuffs as his dilated pupils watched her in awe. She was getting wet from the power she had over him, and the reactions she was getting. It was taking all her willpower not to release him from his cuffs right then and let him fuck her on the hard wooden stage.

As it was, she loved to tease him. “Are you alright Peeta? You seem distressed. Do you want me to stop?”

“God no, please...don’t stop...” She took him even deeper in her mouth then, bobbing up and down a few times before releasing him and licking up his shaft.

“Tell me what you like, Peeta.”

“That...keep doing that...yes, just like that.” She had begun to take him completely into her mouth, swirling her tongue around him as she moved. “ _Fuck,_ Katniss, that feels so good...” His dirty words were a shock to her the first few times they had sex; now, she searched out for all the ways to drive him to that distraction.

“Katniss... _shit..._ I really need to touch you...please.” He let out a low groan which she answered with a moan of her own.  “Oh god...” The handcuffs rattled and shook the board in his desperation to pull himself free. She could only hum in approval at the response she was eliciting from him, the feel of him throbbing in her mouth. She sucked harder and moved faster, hollowing out her mouth and keeping her hand moving in tandem. She was vaguely aware of a metallic clanging sound above her, followed straight away by the feel of one of his strong hands gripping her hair firmly as he began to fuck her mouth. In that moment, she was too turned on to care how he got out of the handcuff.

“Shit Katniss, I’m gonna cum...” She gripped his hips harder in reply to his warning. This seemed to be a clear enough answer for him, for he pulled her head closer, pushed deeper in one final loud cry of his name as he spurted into her mouth. She took all of him, before releasing him from her mouth and sliding to the floor.

A second metallic click was quickly followed by Peeta sliding down to join her. He hoisted her up and onto his lap, stroking her hair gently as their heart rates slowed.

After a few minutes of them lying in that position, her arms woven around his neck, her head snuggled into his shoulder, Peeta broke the silence.

“You didn’t need to prove anything there. You were right all along.” Katniss looked up at him quizzically. “Not that I didn’t really appreciate the gesture of course. It’s just...well, I’ve been yours ever since that day in the kitchen Kat. And I thought you were honestly only interested in me for the sex.” She could hear his heartbeat pick up speed again beneath her ear as she rested against his heart. “But then you get jealous over some girl that honestly has nothing on you, and I guess...I’m hoping that maybe you feel more. The more I spend time with you, the more I want from this. From us.”

“But...I like working with you Peeta. You know Haymitch’s rule – ”

“Katniss, he knows.” She looked at him slack jawed waiting for him to explain. “He worked it out the first performance after we slept together. He said we went from looking like two tightly wound cats in heat, to a couple of smoking felines prepping for round two. He actually thought the act improved from it. More focus apparently. Your job here’s safe no matter what, OK?”

She could only find it in her to give a slight nod of her head.

“Look, it’s fine if you want to keep it as it is, I’ll take what I can get. Don’t worry about it OK?” But she knew that wasn’t enough, it could never be enough for him. Such a caring and sweet man deserved more than that. Deserved more than she could give. And the least she could give him was an explanation behind her reasons.

“Peeta?”

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t told you why I don’t like magic.” There were no words in response from the man holding her, only the slight increase in pressure of his hand on her lower back, and the gentlest of strokes in her hair that told her to continue. “My father, he loved magic tricks. He was never great at them, but we let him believe he was better than he was.” She focused on the motion of his caressing fingers in her braid. “Well, my father died, and my mum fell into depression. I suddenly found myself having to look after her and Prim.” Figure of eights on her back, back and forth, back and forth. “I never really got fooled by magic then, but I used to accept it all the same. Fall under its spell. But it was snatched away from me when my dad died. Magic abandoned us, hurt us all. I promised I would never waste my time with magic ever again. If I didn’t, then it wouldn’t trick me or hurt me.”

They remained silent again for a while, focusing on the faint whirr of the ventilation fans in the theatre.

“Katniss?”

“Hmm?”

“Are we still talking about magic now?”

“...not really, no.”

More silence. Her left leg had begun to fall asleep, but she didn’t care.

“I’m not going to leave you, you know, no matter how much you try to drive me away. And I don’t intend to hurt you. I’m in this for good. I meant what I said. I’m yours, for as long as you want me.” He seemed to contemplate for a few moments, before having an air of determination in his voice as he continued. “And I want to stop sneaking around. I want to take you on a real date, and shower you with gifts, and hug you whenever I want because I’m yours and you’re mine. It doesn’t have to be right now, but...I’d like to know you’re open to it someday.”

Was she open to it? She wasn’t sure how to think about that question. She had tried to convince herself it was just sex, but that was just kidding herself. Not two hours ago, she wanted to rip that redhead’s throat out. His magic had wormed its way into her heart and cast its spell there.

“Hey, look, if you want to forget this conversation, that’s fine. I did think maybe you felt something else, but – ”

“Peeta...”

“ – it’s OK. I just gotta go shut off the lights then we’ll make a move – ”

“Peeta!”  He’d been ignoring her until that moment, but looked back at her shyly, a hint of disappointment in his eyes that she wanted to kiss away. So she held out her hands to him. “Pick a card.”

“Er...what?”

“Pick a card.”

“You’re not good at card tricks Katniss. And, also, you don’t have any cards...” She rolled her eyes at him.

“Just humour me, will you?” She held her hands out to him again. “Now pick.” He mimed taking one from somewhere near the middle of her ‘deck’ and she rested her hands back in her lap.

“Tell me, what’s your card?”

“Er, it’s a bit early to be asking that isn’t it?”

“Just tell me.” She knew he was trying to work out what she was getting at. But he sighed, and played her game.

“OK...the five of diamonds.”

“That’s not it. Try again.”

“What? Er, OK…the ten of spades then?”

“Nope. Really look.”

“Are you trying to get me to do a mind reading trick or something? You know that’s not how those work, right?” Katniss simply laughed, but quickly turned serious again at the lost look he was giving her.

“Peeta...you don’t need a mind trick here.” Her voice had fallen to a hush. “You know what card that is.” She could tell he was internally debating whether to trust what she was telling him. After what felt like minutes of blue eyes holding silver, he responded disbelievingly.

“...the Queen of Hearts...?”

Katniss raised her hand to brush a stray lock of hair away from his forehead. “The Queen of Hearts. As long as you keep that card with you...I’m yours Peeta.”

“You mean...you’ll allow it?”

The disbelief had her grinning, eliciting a mirroring grin of his own. “I’ll allow it.”

He dipped his head to give her a slow kiss, brushing his lips tenderly against her own. After a few minutes of laying on the floor together,  Katniss had to give in to her numb limbs and began to stand. “So shall we head to yours or mine?”

“Er...actually, I think we need to go through our act a bit more first.” He gave her a devilish grin before continuing. “What do you think about practising the water tank act?”

She gave him a wry smile and lifted her eyebrow suggestively. “Oh, I think we need quite a bit of practise with that one.”

“Excellent.” He retrieved the handcuffs from the floor. “Because I think it’s only fair after what you just did to me, that I get you wet.”

xXx


	2. Chapter 2

Just a quick note - I might return to this at some point in the future, so any ideas are more than welcome.


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